“Are you sure this is where she lives?”

  Alethia nodded and said,

  “For the forty-third time, yes. This is where one Tammy Brachen lives”

  The sound of Richard opening a second bag of chips grated on Alethia’s ears, but hunger gnawed at her while they sat in the car watching Tammy’s house. They were watching for “suspicious people” which was another way of saying they were looking for anything. Anything at all.

  “Sorry, I guess I should not have foisted the job of looking this up on you.”

  “You mean so I could not justifiably be cross at you for your choice?”

  “Um, no? I meant I should have done this myself since this is my lead we’re following.”

  Alethia nodded and said,

  “That works. Have you seen anything out of the ordinary today?”

  Six thirty PM on a Tuesday was not the ideal day or time for a stakeout. But here they were, waiting most of the day to see if anyone Richard recognized entered or let the house.

  “Do you think we should go in?”

  “You mean like approach the house ourselves? Heck no Richard. That sounds like a really bad idea.”

  “But, ugh. Waiting is really boring Allie.”

  “Not as boring as prison or death, right? Let’s wait for now.”

  Richard looked like he wanted to step out of the car and pace. Thankfully, the house ahead of them finally changed and Richard managed to look relieved and hyper simultaneously. Alethia was not looking forward to possibly fighting someone or possibly getting into a lot of trouble.

  “Come on Allie, follow them.”

  “Not now. Rob has been reading up on strategy and tactics or whatever, but I have been reading up on shadowing and evasive driving. We wait until they are at least a block away.”

  Tammy and one of the men from Phaser Tag opened the garage to the house and rolled a baby blue old chevy hard top sedan onto the drive. Richard pointed both of them out for Alethia.

  The car pulled out of the drive and drove away. She started her car and pulled out of the driveway in front of the abandoned house they had selected. Alethia kept a few cars and at least a block between Tammy’s classic car and her own dilapidated Toyota.

  Tammy and her passenger did not stick to the better parts of Austin. When they turned on Riverside to the east of I-35, Richard said,

  “Awesome! They might be taking us to their scrap dealer or something!”

  Alethia shook her head,

  “Remember, we’re supposed to be watching, not trying to get into more trouble.”

  They did not stop when the old car stopped in front of an apartment complex.

  “Allie, we’re moving away from them! What if what we want is in that apartment building over there? How can we prove what they did without the evidence?”

  “Richard, we have to pass them, they would have figured out what we were doing otherwise. Sorry. We can get out up here and walk back to them.”

  She pulled into the next apartment complex, this one lacked a security fence and gate, just like the one Tammy turned into. Richard flew out of the car, but not fast enough to escape Alethia, who was the reigning speed queen of their group. They stayed low and observed the apartment from the bushes. They could not find Tammy where they thought she should have been, so they waited for another hour. Halfway through the second, Richard said,

  “Okay. Times up anyway. We need to get back home and brief Rob and Karen, see what they learned today.”

  Alethia said,

  “Good, I have some plans tonight.”

  One of those plans was to try to speak to Zoe, who had finally returned her multiple, desperate calls. The plan was to drive over to Zoe’s place once Rachel was there and texted her an “all clear!” Zoe was not sure she wanted to see Alethia still, which hurt her chest. But even if Alethia was not sure about how she felt toward Zoe, she knew she wanted her as a friend. Even if they might never be lovers. In truth, Alethia did not really want Zoe for a lover right then. That would have interfered with her designs on Karen.

  Alethia refused to consider that Karen was happy and never going to leave Rob now.

  She had a plan of her own.

  Alethia waited in her room for her text when her phone rang. It was her dad, so she picked up.

  “Alethia, is that you?”

  She did not laugh at her dad for the question. That was how he spoke even when he called other people. It was weird and also totally endearing.

  “The one and only. Hi daddy!”

  His voice sounded chipper, happier than he had been when she called him from jail.

  “Is Gretchen helping you? How are things?”

  He was happier, but his voice was not entirely calm. He paused between his questions like he was not sure he wanted to ask the second one.

  “Gretchen has been great! She got me released on Sunday and she called me again on Monday to let me know that the DA was not likely to press charges, but she would know for sure on Friday.”

  “How are the men who attacked you?”

  “The police are still looking for the third one as a witness. Both of the ones who actually attacked me are awake and very likely to recover completely.”

  “That is good. Great even!”

  That time he definitely sounded awkward. He wanted to ask another question or say something, but it made him too nervous to come out and say it.

  “What’s up dad? I get the sense that you did not call just to ask about jail. That would have been fine too though.”

  He chuckled on the line and said,

  “No hon. I have been struggling to find a way to be supportive… of your choices.”

  “It’s okay to say it dad. I’m confused.”

  He laughed again,

  “So gay or lesbian is not right? Is bisexual right?”

  Alethia smiled. That was her dad’s determined effort voice. When she told him she wanted to become a Biochemist, he spent two weeks researching the field just so her could ask her meaningful questions about it. She imagined her 51-year old father hunched over his portable computer reading the Advocate.

  She said,

  “Confused is the best right now.”

  “So you’re not sure then?”

  For that tiny tone choice Alethia loved and appreciated her father. Rather than sounding relieved or happy about her confusion, he sounded like he should have: concerned.

  “Yeah, this is the pits.”

  “I guess I have trouble imagining it. But I suppose it is far worse than not knowing what jig or lure to use, huh?”

  Alethia laughed with her dad this time.

  “That is a bit of an understatement.”

  Her father was quiet for a while. He finally spoke,

  “I am very sorry about how I responded last year honey. That was wrong of me. I disappointed you and I did not support you when you needed it most. I will do my best from now on. Can you forgive me?”

  Alethia was crying before he finished speaking and said,

  “Yes, of course daddy.”

  “We should probably not share this with your mother or the rest of the family for now. Especially Mimaw.”

  ‘Mimaw’ was Alethia’s maternal grandmother. She was the spiritual center of the family and the only one crass enough to ask her why she was dating a ‘spic.’ That conversation did not go as well as the one she was having with her dad right then. In fact, Alethia yelled at her grandmother for her racism and had not spoken to her since. She would probably be thrilled to learn that Alethia broke up with ‘that one.’ But then how would she feel about Zoe or Karen?

  Ha. That might be worth seeing.

  “No thanks. I will wait for that until I can spring the news in the best way possible.”

  Her dad laughed again and said,

  “Just make sure that I am not there when you do. I don’t mind having your mom yell at me, I do not want to listen to Judy shout for three hours.”

  “Thanks dad.”

  “So is there someone you’re interested in?”

  Alethia looked at her phone like her dad grew horns,

  “Kinda, yeah. I guess. Two people, really.”

  “People or women?”

  “Women.”

  “Do they know each other?”

  Alethia sighed and her dad seemed to hear it. He said,

  “That answered that. What are you going to do there?”

  “I don’t really know. I like them both. They are…” She wanted to say beautiful and wise. Zoe and Karen smelled good and they both seemed to like her, even if Zoe liked her too much and Karen did not like her enough. Alethia was tired of not being able to share this with anyone. Richard was too close to Karen and Rob and Alethia could not vent to Rachel anymore Zoe was her friend.

  So she poured her heart out to her dad. She left out the part about super powers and her new mission as a superhero. He would justifiably freak out over that. Delicate subjects avoided, he said,

  “Did you know that I dated quite a bit before I met your mother?”

  “Really? I thought you were high school sweethearts.”

  Alethia could hear her dad smiling on the phone,

  “That was technically true. We started dating right before graduation. But I dated several different women before I noticed your mother. In fact, I had been juggling two different women at the end of my senior year when I broke it off with both of them to start seeing your mother. Maybe if you cannot figure out who you want, it’s because you have not met the right person yet?”

  Alethia understood the point of her dad’s story, Richard just told her the same thing. But she asked,

  “How did you manage to date two women at the same time?”

  “Very carefully. It was not fair to either woman and I regret it now. But I just kept them from meeting. I don’t… one was named Susan. Susan Cole and Megan Rien were their names. I liked them both, Susie was sweet and athletic. We often went to basketball games together. Megan loved to read so we would go on dates to the library or the bookstore. Until I met your mother, I did not know that there were other people out there who shared my own split interests.”

  Alethia appreciated the story, but did not see how it applied to her. Karen was older than Zoe, who was much closer to Alethia’s age. They would have more experiences in common, but Karen was also involved in academia. In fact, so was Zoe. The whole mess made Alethia’s head spin.

  Then her phone buzzed at her, it was Rachel texting her with the all clear.

  “Speak of the devil. I need to go apologize to Zoe right now.”

  “She’s the one who got mad at you for playing her against Karen, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I think I like her, Zoe that is. I hope you have a good night honey. Just be honest and be yourself. If she is worth it, she will appreciate the tremendous gift you’re giving her. Oh, and be sure to apologize properly.”

  “Huh?”

  “Admit you were wrong, acknowledge that it was your fault and how you hurt her and then promise to be better.”

  “That’s all it takes, huh?”

  “Well, the whole thing should be sincere.”

  “Thanks dad, have a good night!”

  “I love you sweetie. Be safe.”

  Alethia drove to Zoe’s house alone. For most of the short trip — unless you were far north or south, everything in Austin was nearby — Alethia felt fine, maybe a little nervous. But as she pulled into the parking lot at Zoe’s building, Alethia started to panic. The parts of her life that really threatened her, stalking thieves with guns, did not worry her nearly as much as walking up the stairs and contemplating a honest apology.

  How can anything I say be honest anymore?

  The lie that sat in a big fat ugly pile in her life turned out to be two lies. One, that she was your average graduate student working her way to her doctorate and not a bisexual or lesbian in any way. Two, that she had super powers bestowed on her by a mystery serum. Superpowers she could not quite identify and that she definitely could not show to people in her life.

  Alethia arrived before Zoe’s door. Her hand mechanically sought out the doorbell, but she pulled up short before she pressed the button.

  Do I really want to do this?

  Alethia knew the answer before she finished asking herself. She wanted Zoe’s trust and esteem. Alethia had few enough friends that she could not spare a new potential friend out of shame or embarrassment.

  She rang the bell and the door flew open. Alethia yelped in surprise at Zoe standing facing her. Since Alethia had seen her last, Zoe had dyed her hair pale blue on the long parts up top and dark green on the parts near her scalp.

  “Hey. I was wondering if you might chicken out. You didn’t wait there as long as I thought you would.”

  Alethia stammered a response, but Zoe nodded and said,

  “I was about to go grab my laundry from downstairs. You can wait here with Rachel.”

  Alethia recognized a dismissal when she heard it. Zoe’s tone brooked no discussion from Alethia, in fact it sounded like she was still in the bitch house.

  Rachel waved at Alethia from the couch,

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Hey Allie. How are ya doing?”

  “I’m not in jail anymore, so yay for that.”

  “Jail, what?”

  “Right, you and I have not spoken since Saturday. Let me tell you what happened.”

  Alethia was still telling her story when Zoe returned laden with clean clothes and other bits of laundry.

  “Wait, did you say you had to get a lawyer?”

  Zoe’s question provided the opening Alethia wanted, even if it was a little generous to call that a segue,

  “Yes. Don’t worry about that. Zoe. I am really sorry I did not tell you how I felt about Karen. It was never my intent to hurt you…”

  Alethia knew that was not right, she said,

  “I am sorry. I mean. I should have known this would hurt you and it was selfish and callous of me not to consider your feelings. I can say I won’t do that to you again, but I don’t know how I feel…”

  Alethia’s words ran out on her.

  Zoe watched Alethia speak with her arms folded. When Alethia trailed off, Zoe said,

  “I get it. You’re just discovering you might play for my team. That’s no biggie. If you join the softer side, you will find a lot of ladies like yourself among us. What made me particularly angry was the lying. You haven’t said anything about your fencing training yet.”

  Alethia looked at Zoe, her face was red and she met Alethia’s gaze head on, like she was challenging the other woman to lie some more.

  Jesus, help me be honest with my friends.

  She took a deep breath and Alethia said,

  “The only formal training I have ever received in fencing is through the SCA. I promise I did not leave out my past Olympic career as a fencer. Rachel, you know the truth, tell her?”

  Rachel met Alethia’s appeal with a nod,

  “I did.”

  Zoe’s crossed arms seemed a little less tense now.

  “I have a hard time with that. You beating me is no big deal, but the way you beat Tiny… I looked you up, only I couldn’t find any public records or training that you’ve done.”

  Alethia felt warm,

  “You Googled me? That’s…”

  She was about to say, ‘sweet,’ but the look in Zoe’s eyes stopped her. Zoe said,

  “Creepy? Thanks.”

  Her voice was flat and the tension returned to her arms. Alethia said,

  “I was going to say sweet. I don’t think anyone has ever Googled me before. Well, maybe my students I guess. And maybe UT before they accepted me. I don’t really know?”

  Zoe’s frown rippled, like she was trying not to smile at Alethia’s antics. Zoe said,

  “So you’re not a secret ninja or something?”

  “Well, yes. I am a ninja, but I am not some fencing ringer who has been waiting a whole two weeks to tell you about my mad skills. If I had them I would have told you when we met so you would be impressed.”

  Alethia bit her lip and looked elsewhere. At least that was true, if mortifying.

  Zoe smiled despite her frustration with Alethia and said,

  “You are too cute. So you wanted to impress me, huh? Whatever you were doing was working until I thought you lied to me and then used me to make the woman you’re really interested in jealous.”

  “If it helps, I feel like a total shit for the last thing. Even before you realized it.”

  Alethia hung her head. She knew that what she did was wrong when she was doing it, but she wanted Karen more than she cared about the consequences.

  Zoe said,

  “Are you still attracted to her?”

  Alethia nodded,

  “Yes. But her relationship with Rob is improving. I think my ship has sailed. Probably.”

  “So you’re giving up?”

  Alethia nodded.

  “I am not going to stop being friends with Karen, but I am not going to come between her and her husband, especially if their relationship gets better. The only reason I was there in the first place was because of how much of a shit he is.”

  Today felt like a day for swearing. Zoe was not offended and Rachel had a bigger potty mouth than Alethia did. Zoe said,

  “Okay, you should appreciate that I left Boston in part to escape exactly this drama.”

  Alethia sat on the couch, following Zoe taking a seat in a chair on the other side of Rachel’s black coffee table.

  “Sounds like there is a story there?”

  Zoe nodded to Alethia and said,

  “A couple years ago, right before I graduated I met a wonderful woman. She was five years older than me, already a successful engineer working with children and coding. I had always wanted to do that. So we hitched up our U-Hauls and moved in together. The first few years were pretty okay. We both had tempers and we both hated cleaning, but our relationship worked.”

  Zoe paused, Rachel patted her on the shoulder. Zoe nodded and continued,

  “I worked with a group in Boston who helped give young girls a leg up in STEM using coding as a sort of gateway drug. She worked at a firm who supplied one of the major software suites we used. Or at least I thought she did.

  Two years into our relationship, things started going wrong. Charlie — that’s her name — always worked odd hours, sometimes even staying at her job overnight. Around this time, those out of home periods grew longer and more frequent.

  We merged our finances because that is what you do when you’re two young lesbians who live together and don’t know any better. Money started leaking out of our accounts. Dollars at a time. At first I was quiet about it, Charlie made most of the money between us, so who was I to tell her how she should spend it? More and more money disappeared to the point that we — by this point mostly me — started having trouble paying bills on time.

  That is when I started tracking our finances seriously. In a year, she had moved just shy of twenty grand out of our shared account. I was a co-signer on our lease, we had credit cards together, a bunch of our lives were entangled. The more I pulled on those tangles, the more I learned that what she told me and what the reality was differed. Charlie had a personal account I could not touch, but I had no version of the same.

  I am not proud of this, but I started following her after the second time our rent cheque bounced…”

  Zoe paused and wiped tears from her eyes.

  “That night she walked into a small brownstone in the middle of a swank neighborhood on the north side of Boston. I started to walk away. I knew she was cheating on me. That is what I thought anyway. When I stormed up to the house, that is where I finally met her husband and her two children. One of them was only four. She had missed half of his life spending it with me.

  That night was not the best night I have ever experienced. I probably frightened her children. I definitely frightened Charlie’s stupid husband; the same husband who knew where his wife was for two years and thought there was nothing wrong in keeping the little details of Charlie’s “real life” from me.

  Neighbors called the police on us, which was also awesome. Fortunately, no one was arrested and they left after warning us to ‘keep it down.’

  That night I abandoned my lease and moved out of the apartment I shared with Charlie. Friends helped me find a new place for a few months so I could do a little work to repair my credit. That is when Rachel helped me find a new gig here in Austin.

  And you pretty much know the rest. I guess you just needed to know the reason why lying and sneaking about do not sit well with me.”

  Alethia did understand. Her own confused circumstances must have given Zoe even more cause for concern. She said,

  “I am so sorry, Zoe.”

  Zoe nodded and said,

  “What you did is really not that bad in comparison. But I thought you should understand why I might have overreacted a bit.”

  “I don’t really think you overreacted that much. Or at all really. You’re talking to me way earlier than I would have in your shoes.”

  Zoe nodded and said,

  “That’s because I like you, silly girl.”

  Alethia blushed with those words and looked at the ground,

  “Thanks. I like you too…”

  “But you have someone who you’re pursuing already. I get that. You know, if you were free, I would still be interested in dating.”

  Rachel coughed and stood up to make coffee for the three of them. Zoe smiled while she watched Rachel stand.

  Alethia said,

  “I am not sure I want that right now. I really want a friend. Especially someone like you who knows who they are and is not too afraid to follow her heart. Can we try that first, see what happens from there?”

  Zoe looked at Alethia and laughed. Alethia blinked for a moment and considered whether she should feel offended, Zoe said,

  “Sorry, this is just too weird, right? We started with you begging my forgiveness and now you ‘just want to be friends.’ It’s cute and absurd and so, so gay.”

  “So is that a yes?”

  Zoe smiled and said,

  “Of course. We should be friends before we’re anything else, otherwise how would we even know if we got along. That is one mistake I made with Charlie that I don’t intend to repeat.”

  “Oh thank God. Is it okay to hug now?”

  Zoe stood and embraced Alethia. She really did smell fantastic, like lilac and blueberries. Maybe an expensive artisanal cocktail. The temptation to taste her skin was stronger than Alethia expected, especially after all of the drama.

  The three spent the next several hours watching animated shows and laughing together on Zoe’s couch. Zoe and Rachel smoked pot, but Alethia declined for the evening. She needed to drive and did not want to be too loopy for that. Plus a clear head was necessary to help her sort out all of the feelings she had about both Zoe and Karen.

  By the next morning, Alethia still tormented herself over the Zoe-Karen debacle. The truth was pretty simple, really. Alethia had no business holding out hope for Karen or putting Zoe off for that reason. Before classes started, she decided to call her dad again.

  “Hello Alethia. Is that you?”

  “Yeah, it’s me daddy.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, no. I guess so? I had a question for you. Do you think I could talk to you real quick?”

  Something in her dad’s voice encouraged her more than her words,

  “Of course, sweetie. What’s bothering you.”

  “It’s about girls. Can you still talk?”

  “Of course I can. What is up?”

  Alethia filled him in on last night and went into further details about Karen and Rob. She explained the changes in Rob by saying that he was on new medication. Her dad listened and she swore she could hear tears in his voice when he said,

  “I am sorry you’re having trouble, but I am really happy you reached out to me. I miss this, Alethia.”

  “Me too, dad. Lots. What do you think though?”

  “I don’t think your situation is anything like my own from last night. It sounds like you already know what you want. You are not going to be able to date Karen. Even if she leaves Rob, you should give her time. A lot of time. But she is not going to leave him and he is not done mistreating her. You have to accept that now.”

  “What? Why do you say that?”

  “You said he’s never sorry for what he did. Did Rob ever apologize to you or Richard about his behavior?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  “Then he is not going to apologize to Karen either. That means he thinks his behavior is still justified. He might also have some psychological issues, but he also thinks that mistreating the people who love him is acceptable. That is not the kind of behavior that medication can regularly treat.”

  “How do you know all of that?”

  “You don’t remember grandpa Thompson, but Rob sounds like him. I have so little contact with his side of the family because of how he treated me and your grandma. Not once did he ever express remorse. Even a little.”

  “Jesus dad. I never knew that.”

  “Language, honey.”

  Alethia rolled her eyes, at least she knew this was definitely her father.

  “Sorry dad. But I think the exclamation stands. How come you never told me?”

  “That is not the kind of story one shares with their child. Unless she is unfortunate enough to go through it herself or has a friend who is. Besides, there is no use speaking ill of the dead. And now you know what your mother has always been the firebrand in our family. Enforcing any kind of discipline felt akin to the abuse my father heaped on me and my mother.”

  Suddenly, every time Alethia cried harder to get out of a punishment stood in stark relief against her father’s story. Granted, she did not know at the time, but that made her feel like an emotionally manipulative beast. Maybe all children fell into that category, but Alethia felt twenty plus years of shame creep up on her face.

  Her dad continued,

  “Anyway, I know a thing or two about abusers and one of the touchstones is their lack of empathy or remorse. My father usually blamed your mother or me for his violence against us. Even grandma started internalizing it. She always, ‘needed to get dinner right this week,’ to avoid angering father or else he would turn violent. He even tried to play us against each other by beating me for the perceived failings of my mother and her for my misbehavior.”

  Tears rolled down Alethia’s cheeks. She had never even suspected something like this. Now that she knew, she understood why neither her dad nor grandma Thompson ever spoke about grandpa. The rare occasions where they did, they also quickly changed the subject.

  Alethia said,

  “That is all terrible, he sounds like a monster, daddy.”

  She swore she could hear him incline his head, poking his chest with his chin. That was her father’s silent acquiescence in a single motion.

  “If not for your mother’s insistence, I would never have had you girls. I am very happy that I did now, but I was terrified I would just become a foul echo of my own father.”

  He paused, Alethia imagined him shaking himself and he said,

  “None of that is the point. My point is that Rob is almost certainly not done abusing his wife. If he confines his mistreatment to emotional abuse, I guess that is marginally better than physical abuse. But by a margin thin enough to split sin. And I would be very surprised if Rob’s conduct has already crossed over to the physical, but Karen won’t tell you because she knows that would trigger a bunch of events she wants to avoid.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If Karen told you Rob was hitting her, wouldn’t you insist she leave him? You might even call the police yourself or confront him with Richard or others there, right?”

  Alethia nodded and said,

  “Yeah, I would definitely insist she leave him. I would help for sure. But you’re right.”

  “And Karen knows that. If she told you about the extreme behavior, you would intervene. And she might not want that. Abuse is pernicious, Alethia. When it comes from people who are supposed to love you, those signals can get crossed. More or less. It’s not that you have to hurt people in order to feel love, though I suppose that happens too. No, it means that the abuse confirms the person’s love for you. I never told you about the early problems your mom and I had. I accused her of being emotionally distant because she did things like treat me respectfully and refused to manipulate me.”

  “I didn’t know that either.”

  “Again, who would tell their non-adult children something like that?”

  “What do you think I should do about Karen then?”

  “Well, if she thinks you are interested in her or might be, you should let her know the truth. Then you should be sure she knows that your apartment is a safe place for her. Offer to help her in any way you can and try not to remind her about the abuse too much. If you notice odd bruises or some clear indicator like that, you might confront her.”

  Alethia chewed on her lip. That was a lot to think about.

  And when Alethia looked at her phone, she was about two minutes late for her bus.

  “Thank you for the advice daddy, I have to run to class. Is it okay if I call you tonight?”

  He chuckled,

  “Sweetie, you are welcome to call me anytime you would like. Every day if you want.”

  “Thanks daddy, bye!”

  Alethia ran from her apartment as fast as her enhanced legs would carry her. And only at the final stretch did she realize that she was not supposed to be inhumanly swift. She slowed herself down and managed to catch the bus without being late for the rest of her classes that day.

  Sections were even easier than last week. Alethia had a hard time telling, but she suspected that her brain was still improving. The improvements were hard to notice, but her understanding of the material and her ability to retain it was improving. Her cognition had grown to the point where she was reasonably certain her conclusion was correct. As she started to analyze that idea, her mind lead her down every logical path and experience that supported the conclusion in the first place. She even found that she subconsciously addressed several critiques of the idea that she was becoming smarter. The largest piece evidence to the contrary was her complete inability to resolve her feelings for Karen.

  By the end of the day, Alethia had finally convinced herself that she was going to date Zoe officially and stop pining for Karen. The first thing to do was call Zoe and tell her the news. She was as happy as Alethia hoped she would be.

  The next thing she did was drive to Karen’s house. As much as she wanted to just walk away, Alethia needed to see Karen one last night as the object of her affection before she could let go. It was later than she expected by the time she arrived and on a rare coincidence, the Taylors had no plans.

  Karen and Rob left the blinds open. Alethia could see into the windows as she approached the front door. Even though she could see, she heard sounds of shouting from within the house before she reached the door to knock. Before either of them could see her through the little window on their doorframe or through the peephole, Alethia sprinted around the side of the house.

  What the heck am I doing?

  Alethia asked herself the question, but continued to move around the north side of the Taylor home like a burglar. She could hear the faint sounds of shouting continue. The voice was definitely Rob’s voice. When she reached the back of the house, she could hear the shouting much more clearly. She could also see through the back window into Rob and Karen’s living room.

  There Rob loomed over Karen, who sat on the couch staring forward blankly. Rob’s face bulged and reddened as he shouted at his wife. She did not register any of his words, like he was shouting at a sink or a wall. Alethia watched just long enough to decide that she was going to do something about this, she just did not know what yet.

  Inspiration moved her feet back to the front door where the rang the Taylor’s doorbell. The shouting ended immediately and after a few seconds, Karen answered the door.

  “Alethia, is everything okay?”

  “Sure, Karen! Everything is fine. What was that shouting just now?”

  “Oh, Rob and I were watching a show on the tablet, why?”

  “Did I interrupt?”

  “Oh no, we were just finishing up. That’s not why you stopped by?”

  “Sorry, I was just curious about the noise. I stopped by cause I was close. Do you want to grab a coffee or something?”

  With that Rob approached, he said,

  “We’re watching a show.”

  “Karen said it just finished. Come on Karen, I could use some company really badly right now.”

  Karen looked back at Rob. His eyebrow twitched ever so subtly. But Alethia now had context in which to plant that particular gesture.

  Rob gave a small nod and Karen turned to Alethia and said,

  “Okay, sure. Let’s grab a coffee.”

  Karen stepped back into the house to grab her bag. Rob stood at the door smiling and looking utterly incongruous. He looked handsome and… shiny? Alethia was not attracted to him at all, but she could appreciate his physical assets. Thick blond hair and good skin combined with a stout kind of musculature that made Alethia think of a rescaled dwarf every time she saw Rob after he was treated with the serum. But his physical appearance contrasted with his behavior. Part of Alethia wanted to kick him right in his stupid balls. It would have felt good, but she knew that it also would make things harder for Karen. The best she could do right now was try to protect her.

  And that meant getting Karen out of the house this evening.

  The car ride was silent until Karen said,

  “Do you mind if we drive for a bit? I wanted to go to a place down south. They are supposed to have really good coffee.”

  “Sure. No problem.”

  Alethia tried to form her words into a semblance of order in her head. She wanted to ask Karen for the truth, what had really been happening with Rob. But Alethia sensed that more was going on between them than Karen had told her so far.

  Karen interrupted her reasoning,

  “What did you want to talk to me about?”

  “My dad called. Well, I guess I called him when I was arrested. It wasn’t bad, but I wanted to talk to you about it.”

  Karen smiled and said,

  “It wasn’t bad huh? Did he finally apologize?”

  Ugh, what an opening.

  Alethia mentally bit her lip and said,

  “Not until the shop.”

  “Okay then. How are your classes going? Has the serum given you the same upgrades it gave Rob?”

  “Pretty much yes. This has been exciting. I went from a fair student to the top of every section.”

  “I am surprised all of you did not decide to keep that part of your powers under wraps.”

  Alethia shrugged at that,

  “I just tell people I started ‘taking things seriously,’ and they don’t press for more. I think it’s different when we do something physically impossible.”

  “That makes sense to me. The myth of the eidetic memory is alive and well in the modern day. Even though it is impossible.”

  “And that is not the only upgrade. You remember how hard the chemistry was for me. Memorization was never the problem there. Now I can sort of see the molecules in my head and they just sort of translate to reality? As if my scientific intuition got better?”

  “Has everything improved?”

  Alethia shook her head,

  “No, not exactly. I feel more erudite, I guess. But it’s not like my anxieties are gone or I am always on time now. I don’t really get lost anymore. But I can’t exactly say where I am. Does that make sense? I would say on the whole the improvements are haphazard. Or directed in a way I haven’t thought about yet.”

  Then her mind opened up and Alethia saw it before her like a second visual apparatus opened. Her spatial reasoning, mathematical intelligence, memory, hand-eye coordination, dimensional awareness, and general intelligence were all beyond human normals. The mind of a perfect soldier. Or sniper.

  She did not mention that to Karen. The thought made Alethia realize for the first time since she took the serum that they knew so very little about the “time police” Rob stole the serum vials from. Were they a military organization? Alethia knew intuitively that her improvements were tailored for her. She could see echoes of her own improvements in Richard, but he was different. She wondered what he was doing right then as she pulled into the parking lot of the coffee ship Karen requested.

  Only now did Alethia realize she had driven all the way to Riverside. This was part of the eastern road that was becoming gentrified. Flashy new apartments rose above the coffee shop that was itself situated in the bottom floor of the complex. Several other mall-apartment combos had popped up in the city. She inhaled the aroma of home roasted beans as it flooded out of the shop. It smelled like heaven. This would be fine.

  They drank their coffee out near the street in the open air part of the café. Alethia told Karen about her conversation with her father and how he finally apologized for several months ago.